2nd. YDMI Days in Berlin

The three-day event kicked off with an extensive aperitif on the gallery of the 'Villa Elisabeth' in Berlin, which then provided a wonderful background for an excellent dinner, stimulating conversations and interesting presentations.

Representatives from the most diverse branches of industry and from the world of design met for the purposes of networking and to choose a Young Professional as the winner of the 8000 € prize donated by the 'German Design Council'. It is a major logistical achievement to place this wide spectrum of designers from the worlds of furniture, industrial and graphic design and the corresponding representatives from industry all at the same table in a sensible seating arrangement.

From the 44 participating Young Professionals the following five were nominated and were able to present their work to the guests during the dinner: Tillmann Beuscher, ett la benn, ding3000, Sebastian Herkner and Oskar Zieta. The last-named was voted Young Professional 2008 by the public and received the prize from the hands of Andrej Kupetz and guest of honour Hella Jongerius. As no female Young Professionals had been nominated, in her address Hella Jongerius permitted herself a brief appeal to the female participants, telling them they had to stand up for themselves in a domain which is still male dominated: 'You have to show your balls, girls!'

On the Friday evening, after participating in various workshops, all the Young Professionals had the opportunity to present their work to the wider public. In 'Pecha Kucha' manner the designers each had 3 minutes to introduce their creations, with each presentation ended by the stop watch. Some presentations were made with great skill, while other designers were obviously uncomfortable with the situation but still did their best.

In conclusion it can be said that this recruiting platform which has been brought into being by the 'German Design Council' has a great deal of potential and presents a good opportunity to make promising new contacts. This type of targeted design promotion provides an excellent supplement to the numerous mass design events which are increasing in number and generally cost a great deal of money, time and wear and tear on the nerves.